Prosecutors also charged a second man with helping McLean to conceal the body parts after the murder. Police say the crimes took place between Sunday and Monday.

Officials have not yet publicly given a motive for the killing, but New York newspaper reports quoted sources as saying McLean had mental problems, was aggressive and had been in trouble with the law before.

The Daily News quoted Byrd's sister as saying that McLean held a grudge over being put into foster care while his mother fought a drug problem. The New York Post reported that McLean had been photographed posing with his mother's severed head.